Change Subtitle Font Appearance, Size and Color in VLC

VLC Media player is great for loading custom or external subtitle files. The player even identifies and automatically adds subtitles to videos based on the file name. Moreover, there are additional options to configure the on-screen text. We can easily change the font from the default one like Arial to something else like Roboto, as long as it is in the system. The size of the font can also be increased or reduced as per your preference.

Various other customizations regarding the appearance of the subtitles can be made. By default, it displays white text with a black border around it for visibility. We can change the color of the font. We can also modify the outline color and width. There’s even an option to add shadow to the text for blending in. These are simple options that are found in the Subtitles / OSD tab of VLC’s main preferences.

Here’s how you can access and change the subtitle font details:

Go to Tools > Preferences [CTRL + P].

Click on Subtitles / OSD.

Under Subtitle effects, you will find the following options:

Font: A dropdown to choose a different font present in your system.

Font size: Choose between Smaller, Small, Normal, Large and Larger sizes for increasing or decreasing appearance.

Outline thickness: Select between None, Thin, Normal, and Thick for blending and visibility.

Text default color: Switch from the default white to something else like red, blue or some custom color.

Outline color: The color of the border or outline which should contrast the text color.

Add a shadow: Check it to add some shadow that will also improve the visibility.

Add a background: Select it to add a dark background which is transparent. Text will be displayed on it.

Hit Save, to keep all the changes.

If the video is currently playing, the modifications that you make will not be immediately visible. You will have to stop and play it, or open up a new one to see the dashing new text display changes that you just made.

Manually Set the Subtitle Font Size

If the relative font size (smaller to larger) doesn’t make the text size a suitable one according to your choice, you can input the exact size in pixels as well. This option is available in the Advanced Preferences and it overrides the relative font size settings. To do it:

Go to Tools > Preferences [Ctrl + P]

Click on All under Show settings

Navigate to Video > Subtitle / OSD > Text renderer

In Freetype2 font renderer, you can enter the Font size in pixels to your desired size.

Is there some reason why the advanced adjustments won’t work? The subtitles are coded into the video file and not a separate file. When i adjust the pixel size after setting all these things- the only text that gets larger is the text which gives the file title at the beginning of playing. The subtitles are still super tiny and illegible unless you’re sitting next to the display. 🙁 I am using a Windows 10 (came installed) laptop; and the most up to date version of VLC. I have made these adjustments and tried restarting and i still can’t get larger text in the subtitles.